Ynnari
rune that represents Ynnead.]] The Ynnari, also known as "the Reborn," are a faction or religious sect of the Aeldari species comprised of members drawn from all of its other major factions, including the Asuryani, Aeldari Corsairs, Exodites, the Drukhari and the Harlequins. Under the leadership of the prophet Yvraine, the "Daughter of Shades," the Ynnari seek to fully awaken the Aeldari god of the dead Ynnead, who they believe can defeat Slaanesh and restore the Aeldari species' unity and its lost glory. They aim to achieve this in a ritual that would not require the sacrifice of the entire Aeldari species, using a method known as the "Seventh Path" or the "Seventh Way." This path requires the possession of all five of the legendary Croneswords of the Aeldari Crone Goddess Morai-Heg, the mistress of fate. According to the legends, if the Croneswords of Morai-Heg are placed in the right hands, they will give their wielders dominion over life and death. Yvraine, the Emissary of Ynnead, believes that when all five Croneswords are brought together they will act as a physical conduit for Ynnead, focussing enough power to fully awaken her god and destroy She Who Thirsts forever, restoring the ancient Aeldari's ability to reincarnate freely upon death from the Immaterium. However, with the revelation that the Keeper of Secrets Shalaxi Hellbane discovered the fifth Cronesword on Belial IV before the Battle of Iyanden and has secreted it away in the Palace of Slaanesh in the Realm of Chaos, the promise of the Seventh Path now seems all-but-impossible to achieve. With their combined might the Ynnari have become a new force in the galaxy, and have been instrumental in several of the events that brought about the Era Indomitus of the Age of the Imperium, including the resurrection of the Primarch Roboute Guilliman. There has always been an obscure school of thought in Aeldari society that states when every member of their species has died the souls that have been saved from Slaanesh's curse will form a gestalt entity, awakening a new god in the Immaterium with the power to defeat She Who Thirsts forever. Some amongst the Seers and scholars in Aeldari society claim that time of ending, the Rhana Dandra, is nigh, but that not all Aeldari must die to escape Slaanesh's clutches -- there is a new hope against the darkness. Foremost amongst these are the Seers of Ulthwé, whose psychic machinations led to a premature awakening for the Aeldari god of the dead. Soon after Ynnead was first roused from slumbering potentiality, a fraction of his will and power was imparted to Yvraine, the Daughter of Shades. An exile from Biel-Tan after following the Asuryani Paths of the Warrior and the Witch, Yvraine had walked every corner of Aeldari society -- she had become an Outcast, then a Corsair commander, and finally, after a costly mutiny, fallen from grace entirely to become exiled from even the most roguish of Aeldari subcultures. She eked out a new existence from the haunted streets of Commorragh, fighting tooth and nail to become part of the Wych Cults -- such was her skill as a warrior that she rose to the rank of Succubus. It was in the white-hot crucible of arena conflict she crossed the threshold of death and found herself infused with the energies of Ynnead. -- the Visarch, the Yncarne, and Yvraine -- represent a new hope for the Aeldari in the Era Indomitus.]] That was the crux point of fate that saw the birth of a new Aeldari creed -- in one mind-blasting moment Yvraine became a conduit for deathly psychic energies, invested with the ability to pass on her esoteric skills to those who joined her new and macabre doctrine. With the aid of the mysterious Drukhari swordsman known as the Visarch, Yvraine cut her way free from the daemonic infestation that rocked Commorragh soon after her ascension. She made her way back to the craftworld of her birth, ripping free one of the fabled Croneswords from the wraithbone skeleton of Biel-Tan -- and in the process, fracturing the world-ship into skeletal shards of its former glory. The shattering of Biel-Tan's Infinity Circuit unleashed a vast explosion of psychic energies that caused Warp vortices to spiral into being around the stricken craftworld, but also gave a focal point for the Aeldari god of the dead to manifest his Avatar in realspace. So was born the Yncarne, a being both beautiful and terrible, whose mastery over deathly energies were the supernatural powers of Ynnead himself. Since that fateful day, the Triumvirate of Ynnead -- Yvraine, the Visarch and the Yncarne -- has spread word of the nascent god's ascension to the mightiest of craftworlds, the far-flung fleets of the Aeldari Corsairs, the dark corners of Commorragh, and even the Exodite worlds. A great many Aeldari, hailing from every sub-faction and allegiance save the most conservative and entrenched, have joined their cause. No abstract philosophy is this, for the effects of their new deity can be seen manifesting around them -- the Reborn can draw upon the souls within the Spirit Stones they wear to bolster their own abilities, can siphon the power of those slain nearby to invigorate their attacks, and turn their foes to ashes with the strange weapons and psychic powers they wield. Guardians of the craftworlds are a common sight in Ynnari warhosts, often wearing their symbol on the helm and displaying the characteristic crimson colours of Ynnari forces.]] They have learned the secrets of the dead, bringing them closer to their ancestors and the lost glories of their fallen empire. Tragically, many Aeldari see the Ynnari as corrupted by the very daemonic forces they seek to thwart. Others believe they are already dead inside. And perhaps they are right. Though the Reborn seek to reforge Aeldari society in Ynnead's name and restore the glory of the ancient Aeldari species, their arrogant coercion of the metaphysical power that is the hallmark of their people has alienated as many factions as it has united. Worse still, the real danger they pose to the Dark Gods has seen the forces of Chaos -- and especially those of Slaanesh -- rise up like a tsunami of devilry to consume the worlds before them. Conflict and destruction erupts in the Ynnari's wake, and wherever they go, one thing stands out as a stark truth above all. As well as bringing hope, the Reborn bring death -- and in great measure. History . Symbolically, the heart device is missing. The Ynnari symbol is often worn with a stylised oval at its apex, symbolising the Spirit Stone taken within.]] A New Hope Amidst the twilight years of their people, the Aeldari had found a new hope -- something that could potentially stave off their doom altogether. In this, the leaders of the Ynnari saw a chance to unify their long-scattered species as one, healing old wounds and beginning a new era of progress. The Aeldari had witnessed tumultuous change at the tail end of the 41st Millennium of the Imperial Calendar. Being a people blessed with psychic abilities and genuine precognitive power, the promise of cataclysm did not go unheralded. As ever, the Aeldari sought to turn the twists of fate to their own ends -- the High Farseer Eldrad Ulthran of Ulthwé more than any other. Over the last few hundred Terran years of his immense lifespan, Ulthran had detected a confluence of soul energy whenever he had cast his mind into the afterlife of his craftworld's Infinity Circuit. The lingering essences of the dead were blending together into a slow but discernible psychic heartbeat, like that of some impossibly huge giant slumbering in the endless depths of the Aeldari soul. It was the nascent essence of a god of the dead, Ynnead. In that great potentiality, Eldrad Ulthran saw hope. It was the Pathfinders of Alaitoc, led by Illic Nightspear, who brought word to Ulthwé of the strange crystal moon of Coheria, which orbited the Imperial War World of Port Demesnus. The white sands of the moon, glinting like snowdrifts in the stellar light, were formed of a mildly psychoactive crystal, shards of precious stone ground to powder by the erosion of the aeons. Though none alive knew it, Coheria had been on the edge of the ancient Aeldari Empire at the time of Slaanesh's birth, and was saturated in psychic residue. Shortly after the nature of that moon became clear, Ulthran set in motion a cascade of events that would shape the galaxy. The High Farseer projected his consciousness across the stars, enlisting the aid of a Harlequin troupe from the Masque of the Midnight Sorrow. Led by the Death Jester known as Inriam's Spectre, the Harlequins were foremost amongst those Aeldari who believed that Chaos could be defeated and that Ynnead could one day help their species transcend their ancient doom. Battle of Port Demesnus Eldrad Ulthran faces off against Deathwatch Watch Captain Artemis on the crystal moon of Coheria during the Battle of Port Demesnus, initiating the partial awakening of Ynnead, Aeldari god of the dead.]] Together, the High Farseer and his Harlequin allies enacted a great ritual upon Coheria that saw a crystal conduit established between all of the Asuryani craftworlds and the psychically-resonant crystal sands that covered much of that moon. His plan was nothing less than to channel the foremost souls of the Aeldari Infinity Circuits into the same place at the same time -- in doing so awakening Ynnead long before the natural point of his birth into consciousness within the Immaterium. This was an act fraught with peril, for it would plunge all the craftworlds into darkness -- and feasibly lead to their spiritual destruction. Yet it also held the potential to see the Aeldari species, living and dead, united for one glorious moment that could see Slaanesh slain forever, and its power usurped, taken for the good of the Aeldari people rather than their downfall. In Ulthran's eyes, it was a gamble well worth taking. The consequences of that great risk -- remembered in Imperial archives as the Battle of Port Demesnus -- were profound. The moon Coheria was under Imperial control, though it was considered minor and near worthless compared to the planet it orbited, Port Demesnus. The Aeldari of Ulthwé launched a fierce assault upon Port Demesnus, orchestrated by Ulthran as a distraction to draw attention from his true agenda. It summoned an Imperial response -- predictably, the Imperium marshalled every asset it could spare from the system to rush to the defence of its primary holdings. But there was one whose hunter's instinct was strong enough to detect the feint. Watch Captain Artemis of the Deathwatch, a specialist in the art of xenos hunting, took his Kill-team to Coheria and there engaged Eldrad Ulthran at the critical point of his grand ritual. Just as the moon's crystalline sands were thrumming with the psychic energy of countless Aeldari spirits, blood was spilt on both sides, and Ulthran's Harlequin allies were cut down. When Inriam's Spectre was held at gunpoint, he asked his captor, Captain Artemis, if he could put aside his hatred in order to deal a deathblow to a far greater mutual foe -- the Chaos God Slaanesh. The only answer was a bolt to the head. The ritual, so close to completion, went haywire. The psychic emanations intended to awaken Ynnead echoed out into the void, but they were unfocused, for Ulthran had been forced to fight for his life against the Deathwatch in order to escape Coheria at all. The great gamble had failed, but for one aspect -- a tiny mote of Ynnead's divine consciousness that arced through space, eventually coming to land within the Dark City of Commorragh. The Daughter of Shades In the Drukhari arena known as the Crucibael, a grand clash was occurring between the famed Lelith Hesperax and the Succubus Yvraine. So far had her fame spread that as well as rich corsairs and outcasts, even a troupe of Harlequins was amongst the crowd. Some had touted Yvraine as skilled enough to face even Lelith Hesperax in personal combat. This claim was usually a death sentence for even the most skilled warriors, for Hesperax was so immensely gifted in the art of combat that those who faced her usually died in seconds. Yet there was something special about this fashionable new challenger. It was in the white heat of arena conflict that Yvraine crossed the threshold of death and found herself infused with the energies of Ynnead. That night, Yvraine had fought fellow Wyches and Hellions, even Incubi. She had used every ounce of her skill to defeat a captive Tyranid Hive Tyrant bred from the strains of Hive Fleets Kraken and Leviathan that were taken from the planet Valedor. After turning its attendant guard-beasts to dust with deft thrusts of her huskblade, she disintegrated the giant leader-beast in single combat. At the fight's climax, she duelled Lelith Hesperax herself, but found herself outclassed and was mortallywounded for her trouble, left as unworthy prey to die slowly of her injuries. But it was the subsequent clash with a stick-thin, elegant priestess of Morai-Heg that was to seal her fate. allies, such as the Voidweaver, to sport the insignia of the Ynnari alongside their own favoured markings.]] The new opponent's body was bound up in a complex net of black silk, the icon of the long-dead Crone Goddess Morai-Heg emblazoned upon her forehead. Yvraine had seen that ceremonial garb before, in the statue gardens of her native Biel-Tan. Her new challenger wore the raiment of an ancient priestess from before the Aeldari Empire had fallen. The needle of the crone priestess darted out, and for a few seconds, Yvraine was forced onto the defensive. It was as if she was being assailed by the rapiers of two master fencers at once. On any other night, Yvraine could have beaten the priestess without breaking a sweat. But she had been sorely wounded by Lelith Hesperax. Dismay took hold as she felt her strength draining away, her every blow weaker than the last. It was at this point in time that the culmination of Eldrad Ulthran's failed ritual of awakening sent a mote of deathly power screaming across reality. As small as a meteorite splinter but with impossible potential, its searing arc brought it straight to the Crucibael. Burning across Commorragh like a shooting star, the mote of Ynnead's consciousness slammed into Yvraine just as she found herself crossing the threshold between life and death -- for there, the awakening god Ynnead could reach her and imbue her with his divine power. Perhaps it was because she was at that instant beyond the boundary of death that she attracted Ynnead's gaze. Perhaps it was because she had walked so many paths, thereby living a life reminiscent of the lost ancestors of her people, those Aeldari whose souls reincarnated naturally into new bodies upon their death in the days before She Who Thirsts waited within the Immaterium to swallow them whole. Whatever the reason, the experience of becoming god-touched was transcendental. Though it granted her only a sliver of the nascent deity's deathly potential, Yvraine held more power in that moment than any other Aeldari alive. She had become the first, and most potent, of the Ynnari. Guardians and Aspect Warriors of the craftworlds have heeded the call of Ynnead in great numbers, though not all adopt the Ynnari colours.]] That crux point of fate saw the crowd gathered in the arena suddenly blasted by a tsunami of deathly power emanating from Yvraine herself. In one mind-shattering moment Yvraine became a conduit for deathly psychic energies, invested with the ability to manipulate spirit energy and pass on her esoteric skills to those who joined her cause. It was the genesis of a new power in the galaxy, the birth of its high priestess, and the inception of a macabre Aeldari religion that thousands of souls have subscribed to since that day. Yvraine's transformation was a boulder hurled into a stagnant pond. With the mysterious figure known as the Visarch fighting his way to her side, she cut her way through the anarchy of the rioting Crucibael crowd. The destructive ripples of that event flowed outwards, causing the metaphysical quake of a Warp dysjunction across Commorragh. During the resultant daemonic invasion as a breach appeared in the Webway corridors containing the Dark City, Yvraine escaped Commorragh, leaving utter disaster behind her -- for the coming of her apotheosis had seen the half-reality of the Dark City torn wide open, and daemon creatures had slunk through in its wake. , the Daughter of Shade, calls forth the Avatar of Ynnead, the Yncarne, from the Infinity Circuit of Biel-Tan.]] The Ynnari's flight through the Webway led Yvraine to Exodite worlds, several Aeldari craftworlds and even a Crone World in the Eye of Terror. In each location, she left dissent and schism behind her. Nowhere was the effect of her actions more clear than on Craftworld Biel-Tan, where she raised a new manner of being, the Yncarne, the Avatar of Ynnead. To many Asuryani, Yvraine was a herald of disaster, but none sought to snuff out her flame as much as Asdrubael Vect, the Supreme Overlord of Commorragh, whose carefully maintained status quo she had so thoroughly shattered. Asdrubael Vect's agents were sent to end her disruption for good, including a mercenary force headed by Drazhar, the Master of Blades. But to others Yvraine represented hope, and thousands of Aeldari joined the cause of the Ynnari, amongst them the Phoenix Lord Jain Zar. The skeins of fate crossed and crossed again, until not even the most skilled Farseers could determine the optimum path through the maze of causality. The future was shrouded, and all the more disturbing for it. Era of the Dathedian , known to the Aeldari as Ulthanash's Rest, Yvraine's followers joined forces with the Imperium against Abaddon's vast legions during the 13th Black Crusade. It was a pivotal moment in both Imperial and Aeldari history, for without this fragile alliance the resurrection of Roboute Guilliman during the Ultramar Campaign may never have occurred.]] The events at the close of the 41st Millennium saw the galaxy all but split in half by the celestial cataclysm the Aeldari call the Dathedian. It brought with it a rise in aetheric phenomena -- and being part of a psychic race, the Ynnari were profoundly affected. The Cicatrix Maledictum, that great tear across the fabric of space and time, has further divided the Aeldari people. After the birth of the Great Rift, the Asuryani sent out psychic communiques to every one of their craftworlds, taking stock of the sheer scale of the disaster that had befallen them. Two of their number did not respond, their psychic traces dwindling with every passing night. Though to an empire as large as the Imperium of Man this would have been considered acceptable losses, for it counts a million worlds and more in its number, for the Aeldari it was a cost so high it wrenched at the heart. To lose two entire craftworlds was a bitter pill indeed. Perhaps one day they would return, just as Craftworld Altansar was drawn from the gullet of the Warp by the odyssey of the Phoenix Lord Maugan Ra. But for now, those craftworlds were gone. Whether their spirits enriched the growing gestalt of Ynnead, none save the Whispering God himself know. Far from uniting the survivors against the common enemy of Chaos as Yvraine had hoped, the rift between the space-going nations of the Aeldari grew all the wider. Their scattered craftworlds are not Warp-capable, for the Aeldari would never risk their souls by willingly braving the hellish dimension of the Empyrean. To do so would be tantamount to suicide, for it would court the hellish attention of Slaanesh, "She Who Thirsts," that entity which prizes Aeldari souls over all others. Neither can the Asuryani craftworlds traverse the Webway, that alien labyrinth dimension between the Warp and realspace through which smaller Aeldari voidcraft traverse the galaxy's hidden paths. Even the smallest of the Asuryani craftworlds is the size of a minor moon, and there are few if any Webway gates large enough to accommodate them. The Harlequins still use secret ways within the Webway for the Aeldari to slide through the vast reaches of space in relative safety, and those who have converted to the Ynnari cause guide Yvraine and her growing congregation through the labyrinth dimension whenever they can. But the coming of these ruinous times have rendered even the quietest space lanes fraught with peril. The Aeldari have become a people truly divided, and in so being, court a new fall. In the cultural hearts of the Aeldari Empire, the wound of the Great Rift -- or the Dathedian in the Aeldari Lexicon -- festered and ran deep. , a Farseer, an Aspect Warrior and a Guardian.]] No civilisation of the galaxy could look upon a night sky mauled by the energies of Chaos and not feel affected by it. To a species as sensitive to psychic phenomena as the Aeldari, the scar in the heavens was a constant dull ache in the mind, a reminder of all they had lost. Perhaps it would never have existed at all were it not for the formation of the Eye of Terror, born from the sickening cataclysm of Slaanesh's birth. That stark reminder of their darkest hour gnawed at the mind, making Yvraine's claims of another god yet to be born -- though this time as a saviour -- ring hollow. Across the galaxy, nightmares of guilt and doubt wracked the Aeldari. Even the callous and self-serving Drukhari were affected, forced to admit their way of life was under dire threat. A new era of war began as the turmoil within was turned into merciless strikes against ancient enemies, new foes, and former allies. Much of the blame for the new disaster was put at the door of the mysterious death cult known as the Ynnari, especially upon Biel-Tan. There, the populace had been divided between fervent support for Yvraine and the outright condemnation that followed her visitation -- coinciding, as it did, with the daemonic invasion and subsequent fracture of the craftworld's Infinity Circuit during the Battle of Biel-Tan. Yet the new era brought hope, too -- a new strand of fate that some believed would lead to the Aeldari rising to greatness once more. The being that Yvraine summoned from within Biel-Tan's broken wraithbone skeleton was an Avatar, of a sort -- and for an Avatar to exist, a god had to have risen in power in the Warp for it to incarnate. The entity known as the Yncarne was proof that the Whispering God was real, and hence that he could perhaps save their souls from She Who Thirsts once and for all. Drukhari Assault After the Ynnari's desperate resurrection of Prince Yriel turned defeat into victory during the Battle of Iyanden, they made haste to Macragge, there to bolster Humanity's shield against the scourge of Chaos by bringing the Primarch Roboute Guilliman back from the brink of death. From there, they later defended a clutch of worlds from the scourge of Chaos, but always they were on the lookout for more Aeldari sympathetic to their cause. On Saim-Hann, the Ynnari's high priestess Yvraine found no small number of converts. The Saim-Hann world-ship had been sorely pressed since the opening of the Great Rift. At the height of the Khornate Blood Crusade, it had sent five entire clans to hold back the gore-maddened Red Tide on Upsilon, securing a fraught victory before disappearing to leave the planet's Human survivors shaken and confused behind them. At the same time the craftworld's fleet had fought void battles against Imperial Navy warships and elements of Abaddon the Despoiler's vast armada of the 13th Black Crusade. At first Yvraine's call to arms on behalf of the god of the dead Ynnead was seen as the last thing the seers and chieftain of the craftworld needed. It risked a schism dividing their clans, for tempers on Saim-Hann had always run hot. A council was convened at the Speaking Place, a tribal hub in the midst of one of the craftworld's wilderness zones.Beneath the shimmering vault of a colossal bio-dome they talked of ancestors, spirits, and futures yet to be. For a while, they found accord around the ever-burning fires of that place. Then the skies shimmered above the conflagration, and a Drukhari strike force burst from a Webway gate long forgotten. Their intent was to slay Yvraine with a swift decapitating strike, ending her threat to Supreme Overlord Asdrubael Vect's power over the people of Commorragh. The Drukhari's blades did not find their mark, for none other than the Phoenix Lord Jain Zar appeared to meet them in battle. The peace talks turned to fierce battle in moments, and the Ynnari were forced to flee before the people of Saim-Hann could be brought into the fold. The Hunter Unleashed In the wake of the Ynnari's emergence, ripples of causality, confusion and desperate hope that spread throughout Aeldari society caused waves of raw emotion to be reflected in the Realm of Chaos. Slaanesh, attuned like no other to the echoes of the Aeldari soul, peered through hooded eyes at the shifting destiny of that ancient race, and began to plan anew to protect its existence. Though all the Aeldari loathed and feared Slaanesh, the god they knew as She Who Thirsts had a deep and unbreakable spiritual connection with the Aeldari, and it longed for their souls upon their death. So it was that the rise of the Ynnari did not escape Slaanesh's notice. The god of the dead they worshipped, and the lack of vitality it represented, was anathema to Slaanesh. Here was a newly rising, morbid god that could steal the delicious soul-fodder of the Aeldari from Slaanesh once and for all. This potential had already been proven beyond a doubt upon Biel-Tan, where the daemonic invasion and subsequent shattering of the craftworld's Infinity Circuit had not yielded the feast of sweetmeats Slaanesh had hoped for, but a dry, dusty feeling of absence. Instead of empowering the Dark Prince, all that bountiful soul energy had been given form as the Yncarne, Avatar of the Whispering God. Upon the Crone World of Belial IV, that same morbid entity had banished a coven of Keepers of Secrets with an ancient Cronesword. Even the high priestess of this slumbering god had committed soul-theft, a crime that no true god could endure. Yvraine had become a walking mausoleum, harbouring hundreds of those spirits Slaanesh craved so deeply. The Dark Prince desired to devour her and the Yncarne more than any other prey. There was opportunity for Slaanesh in the twisting tides of fate. Many Asuryani -- and even self-serving Drukhari -- had converted to the cause of Ynnead. In embracing Ynnead, they were casting aside the shields of self-denial that had served them so well for so long. It was true that should every one of the Aeldari give themselves to Ynnead, the Whispering God would awaken, and Slaanesh's power be broken. But should Yvraine and the Yncarne be hunted down and slain, Ynnead's tenuous existence would fade into allegory. The Aeldari that had stepped away from their precious paths would not reach the afterlife of Ynnead at all upon their deaths -- but instead topple from their tightropes of self-discipline to plummet into the waiting maw of Slaanesh. There was one creature in Slaanesh's employ that specialised in the killing of demigods and avatars. That being was Shalaxi Helbane, the Monarch of the Hunt. Banished from living memory some six hundred years ago by the daemon hunters of the Grey Knights, Shalaxi had languished for centuries in the vast and sprawling Palace of Punishments. Now, with the atonement for that past failure at an end, it was time for the Greater Daemon to rise once more, enter realspace and slay the prophets of Ynnead. In doing so, Helbane would earn the favour of the Dark Prince once more. After gathering many old allies -- amongst them the vengeful daemonic symbiote Syll'Esske and a coterie of Slaaneshi Heralds -- Helbane entered the Webway, three dozen Fiends trilling in delirious joy behind the war party. The hunt was on. With Shalaxi's synaesthetic ability to blend a supernatural array of senses, Yvraine's soul-trail was soon picked out. Shalaxi's loping stride accelerated into a headlong sprint -- one that did not slow over time, nor halt for rest, for when the will of their patron is behind them, daemons do not tire. Dark dreams began to haunt Yvraine's nights. It was upon the Dead World of Threccia that Helbane launched its first vicious attempt upon the Aeldari prophet's life. Yvraine was travelling in the company of a warhost of Biel-Tan, braving a dash along a chain of Webway gates that leapfrogged in quick succession across the executed planets of the Cursoai Reach. Helbane's ambush struck with blistering speed, just as the Aeldari host was exiting one such wraithbone portal into a rocky valley of lifeless dust and wind-scoured statues. Two spearheads of Slaaneshi daemons swept down from the high passes above the valley, one encircling the rear of the Biel-Tan while the other swept around to their fore. Seeker Chariots rattled headlong into the Asuryani, their assault so swift that even the whip-quick craftworlders could not respond in time. Blood and spinning limbs flew as the sleek war engines drove deep into the Biel-Tan formation. The narrow Webway routes the Asuryani followed had prevented them from fielding anti-grav transports. They were thus forced to cut their way out of the ambush on foot. To these faithful Ynnari, Yvraine's life was paramount; as Helbane cut an unstoppable red path towards the prophet, the host's Farseer divided his forces. Screaming their dirgesong, a spearhead of Howling Banshees joined Yvraine in performing a dance of lashing blades that slit a neat hole in the daemonic ranks and allowed them to dash up the valley towards the next Webway portal. At the same time, the main strength of the Biel-Tan host hurled themselves at the Slaaneshi daemons. It was a suicidal attack, and Helbane ripped its way through the Aeldari at a ferocious rate. Yet their very deaths empowered Yvraine even as they proved the devotion of the Ynnari to their cause. Lent impossible speed by the dead souls flowing into her mortal vessel, Yvraine outstripped even the Slaaneshi daemons, escaping into the Webway and leaving Helbane raging in her wake. It had been a desperately near thing, but the prophet of Ynnead had escaped her hunter, at least for a time. But Helbane would not be denied its quarry forever. Psychic Awakening of the Penumbral Masque and the Incubi of the Shrine of the Coiled Blade.]] Since the Great Rift split the galaxy, the psychic powers that all Aeldari possess to some degree have burgeoned in different ways. It is generally accepted amongst the Farseers of the craftworlds that this is a direct result of the Dathedian introducing a vast bleed of psychic energy into the galaxy. Of all the Aeldari, the craftworlders are most in tune with matters psychic. Without the Asuryani Path system -- that cultural process by which an Aeldari focuses his or her mind upon a single pursuit or skill to avoid the temptation of all others -- the Asuryani might have found this flare of psychic activity disturbing, and possibly even disastrous. Yet the discipline of the Path was developed precisely to turn the Aeldari mind into a fortress against such unfettered activity. Of all the sentient species in the galaxy, the Asuryani could be said to have ridden out the swell of psychic energy the best -- indeed their entire culture was built around methods of discipline, guardianship, and self-denial in case they let their worst excesses rise from within to eclipse their sanity once more. Those Aeldari who trod the Path of the Witch found their prophetic glimpses escalating into full and potent visions, magnifying their ability to parse the skeins of future fates and react accordingly. On every craftworld their Runes of Warding burned out at a daunting rate, the protective symbols being used up almost as fast as they could be regrown from psycho-reactive material, but for now at least, the psychic threat posed by their daemonic nemeses was held at bay. With this new influx of psychic energy came other new abilities, and many Aeldari subcultures found themselves able to draw on power from within. Even those who traditionally honed the use of the physical over the mental found their talents blossoming when they brought the two into balance. Wyches and Kabalite Warriors of Commorragh have not been immune to Ynnead's call.]] The Ynnari were no exception -- wherever the psychic energies of death gathered thick, the converts to Ynnead's cause could literally breathe them in, harnessing that invisible power released upon death to empower them so they fought with blurring speed and incredible dexterity even for one of the Aeldari species. After this Psychic Awakening began, the Ynnari's efforts against Chaos intensified. Yvraine gathered a great many allies to herself but soon found herself beset by new foes in the wake of the Great Rift's birth, most notably the Supreme Overlord Asdrubael Vect of Commorragh and the Keeper of Secrets Shalaxi Helbane, chosen by Slaanesh itself to hunt down the prophet of Ynnead. Helbane has managed to move the last of the fabled Croneswords into the Palace of Slaanesh in the Realm of Chaos. These relics are said to be necessary to defeat Slaanesh without the need to sacrifice the whole of the Aeldari people in the Rhana Dandra. Rather than despair at her apparently hopeless situation, Yvraine decided to find another path to defeat Slaanesh. Notable Events .]] The rise, fall, and rise again of the Ynnari has changed the course of galactic history -- not just for the Aeldari, but for those they count amongst their uneasy allies in the Imperium of Man. With the stars riven by the Great Rift, it will take every iota of their foresight and skill to keep the fates of the mortal races of the galaxy from disaster. *'The Sign Beyond the Grave (999.M41)' - In the Hidden Chamber of Ulthanash Shelwé, High Farseer Eldrad Ulthran allows his spirit to flow amongst the departed souls of his people that haunt his craftworld of Ulthwé's Infinity Circuit. Under the susurration of countless billions of voices he hears a swelling pulse, like a deep and distant psychic heartbeat. It gives him hope and sets in motion a chain of events that will see the Aeldari species shaken to its core. *'The Prophecies of the Seer (999.M41)' - Kysaduras the Anchorite, sequestered in his wraithbone cell, prophesises the awakening of Ynnead, the Aeldari god of the dead. His words are riddles and half-truths, and the Seer Council of Ulthwé debate their implications until a single thread of terrible potential is winnowed from the rest. Only one amongst them has the nerve to follow it. Finding common cause with the Harlequins of the Masque of the Midnight Sorrow, Eldrad Ulthran enlists the troupe of the Death Jester Inriam's Spectre into an ingenious and near-blasphemous series of heists. *'The Theft of the Crystal Seers (999.M41)' - A new rendition of the events of the Fall of the Aeldari becomes fashionable amongst the performing Harlequins of the Laughing God and tours the craftworlds one after another. It is unlike the traditional cycle, which ends with Slaanesh and Cegorach locked in a duel without end. This latest performance has an epilogue that hints at another being joining the cast and eventually overcoming She Who Thirsts. These theatrical portrayals are not the only illusions brought to the Masque of the Midnight Sorrow's audiences. After the masque departs the day following the performance, one of the glinting statues from that craftworld's Dome of Crystal Seers is missing, though few are skilled enough to pierce the veil of illusion left in its place. *'Battle of Port Demesnus (999.M41)' - On the Imperial planet of Port Demesnus, the forces of Saim-Hann and Ulthwé strike from long-hidden valleys and subterranean arbours, bypassing the cordons that make the planet an Imperial Navy stronghold. As the Aeldari fall upon the population, the Imperium reinforces the planet's defenders a dozen times over. Only the canny Watch Captain Artemis of the Deathwatch spots the ruse for what it is -- a distraction to allow Eldrad Ulthran and his forces to make use of the planet's crystalline moon of Coheria for their own arcane purposes. Upon Coheria, the stolen crystal seers of the craftworlds are arranged in a ritual formation, each providing a hyperspatial link to the world-ship from which it was taken -- or rather to its Infinity Circuit. The rite nears completion, and the departed souls of the Aeldari craftworlds are channelled across realspace to inhabit not Spirit Stones, but the psycho-reactive crystalline grains of sand that cover the moon Coheria. With so many dead souls flaring in such close proximity, the deity Ynnead is roused by their blazing beacon of ghostlight, and for a moment it seems that the god of the dead may become a reality far before the prophesised time. It is then that the Deathwatch under Captain Artemis attacked, slaying Inriam's Spectre and driving Eldrad Ulthran's ritual wild moments before its completion. The Aeldari are forced to abandon their work and flee with the ritual only partially completed. *'Night of Revelations (999.M41)' - That sliver of true consciousness the Aeldari have succeeded in waking from Ynnead burns across the void towards Commorragh, where a duel of champions is taking place. In the gladiatorial arena of the Crucibael, Yvraine is struck by the mote of Ynnead's consciousness that transforms her into the high priestess of a new Aeldari religion. *'Flight from Commorragh (999.M41)' - Approached by the mysterious Drukhari swordsman called the Visarch and agreeing to a temporary alliance, Yvraine and her Bloodbrides flee from the anarchy of the arena to the mercenary quarter of Commorragh known as Sec Maegra. There she finds many of her old allies, from corsair princes to disfigured Wyches, and organises her escape from the Dark City with the aid of these first Ynnari. Boarding the Corsair vessel Lanathrialle, which was operating out of Sec Maegra, Yvraine calls in every favour she can to ensure her old Aeldari Corsair crews buy her time. As the lesser craft duel the shard-ships peeling out of the nearby docks on Supreme Overlord of Commorragh Asdrubael Vect's orders, Yvraine makes for the arterial Webway portal above the port. Her flagship, though far too large to pass through the portal, rams its prow -- bridge and all -- into the Webway gate. As the ship burns and the Kabalite craft pick it apart like bloodsharks attacking a stricken leviathan, Yvraine cuts her way free of the prow on the other side of the portal and takes her coterie deep into the Webway's labyrinth dimension on foot. *'A Deadly Dance (999.M41)' - Yvraine finds herself under attack in the Webway. It is not Vect's agents that hunt her this time, but the pallid Slaaneshi daemonic horrors known as Daemonettes. The Herald of the Dark Prince known as the Masque of Slaanesh has been informed of Yvraine's rise and launches a hypnotic attack on the gathered Ynnari, forcing them to join a grisly dance with the Daemonettes and the corpses of those Drukhari hunters they have already killed. They are spellbound, and their doom looks certain until a strike force of Harlequins come to her aid -- that same troupe that watched her fight in the arena. As a Solitaire duels the Masque, the Ynnari shake off the dire spell and renew their attack. The daemons are banished and the voyage renewed. *'The Tempest Breaks (999.M41)' - The divinations of the Seer Council of Biel-Tan, precipitated by the Masque of the Midnight Sorrow, lead the forces of Biel-Tan to the once-beautiful world of Ursulia, an Exodite Maiden World ravaged by Warp Storms and transformed into a Daemon World. There, the daemons of Slaanesh intended to breach an ancient Webway portal called the Obsidian Gate that led to Biel-Tan itself. A temporary alliance between the Masque of Slaanesh and the Greater Daemon of Khorne known as Skarbrand saw the hosts of Slaanesh and Khorne fight the Swordwind of Biel-Tan amongst a raging daemonstorm. At the battle's height, the portal that led to Biel-Tan was smashed open by Skarbrand's axe, allowing the Masque to pass through to reach the world-ship beyond. Descending from the Webway portal at the stern of Biel-Tan to drift down like a pearl diver heading for the sea bed, the Masque made it to the surface of the craftworld. From there she polluted Biel-Tan's Infinity Circuit with Slaaneshi daemons in such number that the innate defences of that wraithbone megastructure were hard-pressed to cope. Slowly, the Biel-Tan Infinity Circuit became corrupted as it was possessed by the very daemonic forces it was devised to help the Asuryani within it escape. *'Battle of Biel-Tan (999.M41)' - Even as the Biel-Tani fought with every ounce of their skill to quarantine and cleanse their home of the daemon infestation, the Ynnari passed through the Webway to join forces with them. Yvraine, under attack from a horde of Daemonettes, breathed out a cold grey mist that dissolved them amongst a horrible keening scream. The parlay between Ynnari and the Biel-Tani was strained, for there were those that wore the armour of the hated Drukhari amongst them. The presence of the Phoenix Lord Jain Zar, who spoke out on Yvraine's behalf, bought enough time for the high priestess of Ynnead to perform a ritual of her own. **'The Incarnation of Ynnead (999.M41)' - Yvraine plunged her hand into the psychoplastic wraithbone skeleton of the Biel-Tan world-ship as if it offered no more resistance than water. When she drew it back out, she held high the second of the Croneswords that had been buried in the craftworld's spine for many Terran millennia. The Biel-Tani Infinity Circuit, already wracked with pain, began to shatter, and the backlash of deathly psychic energies formed a vortex of terrifying power. From that vortex emerged the Yncarne, Avatar of the Aeldari god of the dead. Its coalescence had a terrible price, however -- though Biel-Tan's Infinity Circuit was cleansed of daemons by Ynnead's power, the craftworld began to physically break apart. Worse still, roiling storms of psychic energy boiled through the void, joining with the empyrric dissonance of several other cataclysmic events such as the destruction of Cadia during the 13th Black Crusade to form a large section of the Great Rift. Biel-Tan is saved though it will need solar decades to recover, but the galaxy itself has paid the price. *'The Justice of Seers (999.M41)' - The Seers of Ulthwé open a portal from their Dome of Crystal Seers to its equivalent upon Biel-Tan, destroying the precious and irreplaceable souls of several deceased Farseers within the Ulthwé Infinity Circuit to do so. The sacrifice is deemed necessary to ensure the Ynnari are rescued from becalmed Biel-Tan before the strife they have sown sees the craftworld consumed in the fires of civil war between those who accept Ynnead's message and those enraged by the damage the Ynnari have done to their home. They are called to account by Ulthwé's Seer Council, as is Eldrad Ulthran, for his arrogance in co-opting the psyches of generations of dead Aeldari is beyond countenance. Emissaries from Craftworld Altansar speak in the Ynnari's defence, revealing that Ynnead's nascent consciousness had a hand in allowing them to survive their craftworld's millennia-long ordeal in the Eye of Terror. The trial becomes ever more heated as courtly negotiations turn to veiled threats, then to open hostility and even psychic attack. Only the intervention of no less a Seer than Kysaduras the Anchorite, unseen for generations, prevents the council from kinstrife of the worst kind. The Ynnari and their Ulthwéan allies, accompanied by the Altansari, are allowed to leave on the proviso that they venture into the Eye of Terror, never to return. *'Exile Within the Eye (999.M41)' - Following a rumour regarding the location of the last Croneswords, the Ynnari take their crusade through the perils of the Eye of Terror to the Crone World of Belial IV. Its once-luxurious Aeldari cities have been long toppled by the powers of Chaos, for the world was at the heart of the Aeldari Empire at the time of the Fall of the Aeldari. To venture there is to risk the worst doom of all under the claws of Slaanesh, but Yvraine believes it is worth the potential cost -- legend states that should all five Croneswords be united, Ynnead's power will be bolstered beyond measure. Though many of Yvraine's Reborn are slain en route to the world, and then, after planetfall, still more at the hands of the daemons that prowl that ruined hellscape, it is the Drukhari covenite forces of the Haemonculi that see her quest grind to a halt. Sent by Asdrubael Vect and his allies in Commorragh to eke out a terrible revenge upon Yvraine for the daemonic dysjunction that befell the Dark City after the Night of Revelations, they use all manner of vile technologies to attack the Ynnari. The carnage draws a Slaaneshi Soul Hunt to their location. A three-way battle breaks out in which Yvraine and her faithful throng are trapped and suffering -- but the key to their victory is close at hand, for one of the fabled Croneswords was indeed buried nearby. When the Yncarne manifests from the deathly energies of the battle, it rises from the tortured ground holding that deadly blade and turns the tide against the daemons and the Drukhari alike. However, unknown to the Ynnari the fifth and final Cronesword was no longer present on Belial IV. Slaanesh freed its Keeper of Secrets Shalaxi Hellbane from the Palace of Punishments in the Realm of Chaos and ordered it to prevent the awakening of Ynnead and foil the plans of the Ynnari. The daemon travelled to Belial IV and stole the fifth Cronesword before the Ynnari could claim it, placing it far from the reach of the servants of Ynnead in the Palace of Slaanesh. *'Rescue by Iyanden (999.M41)' - A Wraithknight-led delegation from Craftworld Iyanden reinforced the Ynnari before the Slaaneshi horde could once more close the noose on the Ynnari. The Iyanden had read the runes of fate, divining that a critical moment of galactic history would occur upon Belial IV. Well-versed in the hidden ways of the Crone Worlds from their Spirit Stone harvests within the Eye of Terror, they lead the Ynnari through a hidden Webway portal to the battle-scarred world-ship of Iyanden. *'Battle of Iyanden (999.M41)' - The forces of Chaos attacked from the newborn Great Rift all across the galaxy, and Craftworld Iyanden was no exception. Even as Yvraine was held as an "honoured guest" -- in effect a prisoner -- by the rightfully cautious leaders of Iyanden, the craftworld is assailed by a Nurglite Plague Fleet. From her sumptuous cell, Yvraine sends a psychic summons to a nearby Aeldari Corsair fleet she had once commanded, and within a matter of solar days it joined the battle. Together with the Royal Armada of Iyanden and the Eldritch Raiders under the command of Prince Yriel, the fleet prevented the Nurglite ships from reaching the craftworld. The famous Corsair-turned-Autarch leads a boarding action into the depths of the Nurglite flagship, a Daemon Engine of colossal size known to the Aeldari as the Spawn of Oghanothir. He plunged the Spear of Twilight into the heart of that rotting hulk, killing the daemonic creature within it that empowered the horrid vessel, but paid for it with his life, smashed to ruin by a blow from the Daemon Prince Gara'gugul'gor. *'Death and Resurrection of Yriel (999.M41)' - Prince Yriel's body was recovered and brought back to Iyanden, there to be lain in state. However, the corpse is infested with a virulent daemonic disease that could potentially lie low the entire population of the craftworld. Fortunately, the Spiritseer Iyanna Arienal allowed Yvraine into Yriel's mausoleum. There, she burned out the arcane plague with the psychic energies of death before claiming Yriel's Spear of Twilight -- in actuality the fourth of the Croneswords she sought -- and resurrecting the prince with the power of rebirth. Iyanden's course through history was altered forever by that fell time. Its Farseers cast their runes, but now the dwindling threads of potential that had seemed to throttle their future unravelled into a dozen different futures and more. *'Uneasy Alliance (999.M41)' - A council of elders gathers in the aftermath of Yriel's resurrection. Together they discuss the new doom that faces the galaxy. After long debate they come to the conclusion that only by giving the teeming masses of Humanity a fighting chance to hurl back the forces of the Ruinous Powers can they avert a doom that would see the Aeldari species suffer and die. The Ynnari, now bolstered by a large contingent from Iyanden, brave the shattered spars of the Webway once more. After a fraught journey where they are forced to face the legendary Ahzek Ahriman and his Thousand Sons Rubric Marines in battle during the so-called "War in the Labyrinth," they reach the ice moon of Klaisus in the Cadia System, that frozen orb which has appeared large in the divinations of their Seers. There they rendezvous with the surviving Imperial forces who have fled the fall of Cadia to Abaddon the Despoiler's 13th Black Crusade under the command of Saint Celestine, Inquisitor Katarinya Greyfax and Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl. A pact is struck, and together the uneasy allies head for Macragge, the capital world of the Realm of Ultramar, there to resurrect a demigod that can lead Humanity in its darkest hour. *'Ultramar Campaign and the Resurrection of Roboute Guilliman (999.M41)' - In the Ultramarines Chapter's Fortress of Hera upon Macragge, Yvraine kills the Primarch Roboute Guilliman, who has sat enthroned within a stasis field on the brink of death for over 10,000 Terran years. In doing so, she finally dispels the shadow of his brother Fulgrim's poisonous betrayal at the Battle of Thessala during the Great Scouring, only to then resurrect him by channelling Ynnead's power into his fallen form. Belisarius Cawl aids in this endeavour by housing the resurrected Primarch's body within the technological marvel called the Armour of Fate. Though Yvraine has failed to unite the Aeldari species beneath the banner of Ynnead as she had hoped, with the resurrection of Guilliman, she binds the race of Mankind together at a critical moment that gives a new hope to the galaxy at large. After aiding their new Imperial allies in cleansing the Realm of Ultramar of the Chaos taint, the Ynnari withdraw into the Webway to continue to pursue their quest to recover the remaining Cronesword and unite all the Aeldari factions in the war against Chaos. *'United for Iyanden (Unknown Date.M42)' - In the starless gloom of the Noctis Aeterna, Craftworld Iyanden is once more invaded. Hoping to replicate the Masque of Slaanesh's success on Biel-Tan, the Slaaneshi Keeper of Secrets N'Kisha uses the Warp rift's power to breach the craftworld. The daemons are repelled at the last, however, as Aeldari reinforcements arrive from all corners of the Webway, including Drukhari, Ynnari, Harlequins and warhosts from every major Asuryani craftworld. *'Battle of Ulthwé (Unknown Date.M42)' - Following the creation of the Great Rift, Craftworld Ulthwé dispatched nearly all of its forces across the galaxy in an attempt to stem the tide of Chaos. In a dangerous move, every warhost of Ulthwé is sent out across the galaxy, leaving the craftworld with few defences. The Seer Council states that need necessitates such daring, as the threads of fate must be twisted in many places simultaneously to avoid greater doom. Several of Ulthwé's warhosts cross the Great Rift to enter the darkened galactic north of the Imperium Nihilus. Upon the Ice World of Rimenok they aid the beleaguered Imperial forces led by the Space Wolves and Dark Angels. The Ulthwé forces provide a distraction, allowing the humans to safely withdraw. Other warhosts aid the T'au Farsight Enclaves on Vior'los and the Grey Knights upon the cursed moon of Tcharla. Each action by the armies of Ulthwé preserves allies needed for future battles against Chaos. But the forces of Chaos took advantage of Ulthwé's generosity. Daemonic forces invaded the largely defenceless Ulthwé, breaching the craftworld's surface to alight within the Dome of Crystal Portents. There, they are met in battle by the exiled Farseer Eldrad Ulthran and his faithful followers, along with warriors of the Ynnari and Harlequins. Despite the presence of Kairos Fateweaver and a sextet coven of Keepers of Secrets, the Aeldari swiftly banish their foes. *'Drukhari Civil War (Unknown Date.M42)' - Though always beset by violence and strife, the Drukhari realm of Commorragh has become particularly volatile since the Great Dysjunction that arose following the formation of the Great Rift. Seeking to counter the Ynnari influence that had arisen in the Dark City, Supreme Overlord Asdrubael Vect has begun manipulating many assets within Commorragh, seeking to eliminate Yvraine and her sect without being seen as openly murdering the Prophets of Ynnead. As such, Commorragh has erupted into internecine violence as various Kabals are attacking pro-Ynnari factions without even realising Vect is behind their acts. One such example is the Kabal of the Lords of the Iron Thorn eliminating the Kabal of Poisoned Hope. Vect also used third party brokers to put bounties on Yvraine's and her follower's heads, creating expeditions of assassins and bounty hunters in Commorragh tasked with hunting down Ynnari in the Dark City and across the galaxy. In truth, Vect needed little to push the city towards constant strife as the Drukhari rare required much cause to murder one another. While Vect managed to destroy many of the pro-Ynnari factions within Commorragh, entire sub-realms of the Dark City nonetheless fell under Ynnari control. These were soon fortified against attack and became separate enclaves of the Webway in their own right. *'Battle of Iathglas (Unknown Date.M42)' - On the Maiden World of Iathglas, Yvraine convened a council between the major Asuryani craftworlds, alongside representatives from the Harlequins, many Exodite worlds, three renowned Aeldari Corsair fleets and even the Drukhari. The assembled Aeldari fall to arguing before a common threat -- a Chaos incursion -- unites them. On the sixth solar hour of its sixth day of the sixth week of Yvraine's arrival, a daemonic incursion erupted as Shalaxi Hellbane burst forth to take the prophet of Ynnead's head. The Slaaneshi daemons massacred all at the Equatorial Faneway and made their way towards Yvraine. Though previously at odds with one another, all the Aeldari on Iathglas answered the call and battled the forces of Slaanesh. Drukhari Wyches and the Harlequins drove north while Asuryani grav-tanks darted towards the south. They slammed headlong into packs of surprised daemons as the orbiting Corsair fleet unleashed a vicious orbital bombardment. The daemons' numbers were great, however, and they delighted in agony and risk as much as they thrilled at bloodshed and victory; undeterred, Helbane's vastly swollen hunting party fought back. Vicious gunfights, running skirmishes and lightning-fast duels erupted all along the tree line around the clearing. Hellbane was eventually able to corner Yvraine, who was protected by Jain Zar, Lelith Hesperax, the Visarch, and a Solitaire. During the fight that ensued the Yncarne was able to manifest but even the Avatar of the god of the dead could not swiftly defeat Helbane. Hellbane was ultimately defeated, but revealed that its presence on Iathglas was only a glamour or illusion solid enough to give good sport, test the Aeldari's combat abilities and little else. Just before its glamour vanished, Hellbane gloated before the assembled Aeldari that Slaanesh considered the Ynnari little more than playthings in its great game, and promised to one day slay Yvraine. Yet, even though the combined forces of the Aeldari had proven triumphant over such a potent Chaos assault, and despite being presented with such a practical example of how an alliance between all of their people's factions would be to their benefit, they parted ways no closer to reaching an accord. Abilities Members of the Ynnari carry the Spirit Stones of deceased Asuryani, whose souls they use to bolster their psychic powers. Ynnari who are faithful to Ynnead are also able to siphon the psychic energy released by recent death to invigorate and empower themselves. Those Ynnari who truly devote themselves to the worship of the god of the dead are able to communicate with the souls of the Spirit Stones they possess and can also draw upon those deceased Aeldari's skills, memories and experiences to aid them in battle. Sometimes the Ynnari are surrounded by the souls of the dead Aeldari who have been absorbed by Ynnead. Their hissing whispers unnerve and distract nearby foes. Organisation There are two known sub-factions within the Ynnari. The first is the "Aeldari Bladehost," who fight directly under the command of Yvraine. The "Soulbound Vanguard" are those warriors who choose to fight under the leadership of the Visarch. Notable Ynnari *'Yvraine' - Yvraine, the Daughter of Shades, is the chosen prophet of Ynnead, a member of the Triumvirate of Ynnead and the spiritual and temporal leader of the Ynnari. She commands the formation known as the Aeldari Bladehost in combat. Yvraine wields Kha-vir, the Sword of Sorrows and one of the Croneswords. *'Yncarne' - The Yncarne is the Avatar of Ynnead in realspace and a member of the Triumvirate of Ynnead. The Yncarne wields Vilith-zhar, the Sword of Souls, the largest and most powerful of the Croneswords. *'The Visarch' - The Visarch is a former Incubus of the Drukhari, a member of the Triumvirate of Ynnead and the chosen guardian of Yvraine. He leads the formation known as the Soulbound Vanguard into battle. The Visarch wields the Cronesword Asu-var, the Sword of Silent Screams, which was recovered from within the Infinity Circuit of Biel-Tan. *'Prince Yriel and the Eldritch Raiders' - Prince Yriel is the Autarch of Craftworld Iyanden who was resurrected by the power of Ynnead following the Battle of Iyanden. He and his old band of Aeldari Corsairs, the Eldritch Raiders, joined the Ynnari cause thereafter. Yriel wields the Spear of Twilight, which is actually one of the Croneswords in a slightly altered form. *'Eldrad Ulthran' - Eldrad Ulthran is the High Farseer of Craftworld Ulthwé and one of the longest-lived and most powerful Aeldari psykers who has ever existed. It was he who set in motion the events that led to the partial awakening of Ynnead and the birth of the Ynnari. Who views the Ynnari's cause as the only chance remainign for the Aeldari species to avoid extinction. *'Lelith Hesperax and the Cult of Strife' - Lelith Hesperax, the greatest of the Wyches of Commorragh, has joined her Wych Cult to the service of the Ynnari. Whether this is because she truly believes that Ynnead offers a way for the Drukhari to give up their sadistic ways, or due to an ulterior motive of her own, remains to be seen. *'Ellaria Moonspeaker' - Ellaria Moonspeaker was part of an Ynnari strike force that was attacked by the Emperor's Children Heretic Astartes and an allied band of Slaaneshi daemons. She was slain by a Daemonette. *'Kysaduras the Anchorite' - It was the visions of the Seer and mystic Kysaduras that helped lead Eldrad Ulthran to partially awaken Ynnead. The Anchorite joined the Ynnari in their quest but met his end during the War in the Labyrinth where the Chaos Sorcerer Ahriman transformed him into a wooden statue. *'Lathriel' - Lathriel is a Farseer of Biel-Tan and twin to the Autarch Meliniel. *'Meliniel' - Meliniel is an Autarch of Biel-Tan and the twin brother of the Farseer Lathriel. *'Masque of the Midnight Sorrow' - This masque is a troupe of Harlequin that associate closely with the Drukhari and seek to combat the dangers of Chaos. *'Shrine of the Coiled Blade' - The Shrine of the Coiled Blade is an Incubus shrine composed of Incubi mercenaries drawn from Commorragh. The shrine was originally based in the Dark City until the Visarch killed its Klaivex and claimed the shrine's warriors for his own. They have since followed the Visarch and joined the cause of the Ynnari. *'Phoenix Lords' - The Phoenix Lords of the Asuryani, led by Jain Zar, came to the aid of the Ynnari, including Karandras, Fuegan, Baharroth, Maugan Ra, and Asurmen. *'Sylandri Veilwalker' - Sylandri Veilwalker is a mysterious Harlequin Shadowseer of the Masque of the Veiled Path. She has intervened multiple times in Imperial history to serve the interests of the Laughing God Cegorach. During the 13th Black Crusade, Veilwalker appeared before the Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl, directing him to a world devastated during the 4th Black Crusade to recover an ancient artefact. It later was revealed that Veilwalker was working with Eldrad Ulthran and the Ynnari, and helped guide the surviving Imperial defenders of Cadia from the ice moon of Klaisus into the passageways of the Webway on their way to Ultramar during the Ultramar Campaign. She later reappeared during the Terran Crusade alongside Cypher and his Fallen Angels to free the resurrected Roboute Guilliman from Chaos forces aboard a Blackstone Fortress in the Maelstrom. Veilwalker provided crucial aid to the Imperial forces in the battle against Magnus the Red that followed, sealing the Webway portal on Luna after Guilliman forced the Daemon Primarch back through it. Afterwards, Veilwalker and her Harlequins vanished. *'Brotherhood of Death Jesters' *The bulk of the Ynnari have been recruited from Craftworlds Biel-Tan, Ulthwé, Iyanden, Altansar, the various Aeldari Corsair warbands, and Drukhari Commorragh. Ynnari Fleet *''Ynnead's Dream'' (Battleship, unknown class) - The Aeldari Battleship Ynnead's Dream serves as the flagship of the Ynnari and the mobile headquarters for Yvraine and the rest of the Triumvirate of Ynnead. Sources *''Codex: Craftworlds'' (8th Edition), pg. 29 *''Codex Heretic Astartes - Chaos Space Marines'' (8th Edition), pg. 95 *''The Gathering Storm - Part Two - Fracture of Biel-Tan'' (7th Edition), pp. 4-101 *''Warhammer 40,000: Death Masque'' (Board Game), pp. 2, 4-5, 7, 12, 14, 15, 18-19 *''White Dwarf'' 33 (May 2019), "Index Xenos: The Ynnari", pp. 24-53 *''Psychic Awakening - Phoenix Rising'' (8th Edition), pp. 7, 10-12, 16-17, 22-23, 70, 74, 80 *''Rise of the Ynnari: Wild Rider'' (Novel) by Gav Thorpe, Chs. 9, 17 Category:Y Category:Eldar Category:Dark Eldar Category:Harlequin Category:Ynnari